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TOKYO, Dec. 18 (Jiji Press) — Japan’s internal affairs ministry plans to raise the maximum postage rate for standard-size sealed letters weighing up to 25 grams to ¥110, it was learned Monday.
Once the new maximum rate is adopted, Japan Post Co. plans to raise its postal charge to the same amount from ¥84, the current postage rate cap, as early as next autumn.
It will be the first postage hike, excluding those caused by consumption tax rate increases, since 1994.
A draft revision to a related ministerial ordinance was submitted Monday to a subcommittee of the Information and Communications and Posts Administrative Council, an advisory panel to the internal affairs minister.
Additionally, the maximum postage rate for a standard-size postcard is set to be raised from ¥63 to ¥85.
The rates for both sealed letters and postcards, as well as some other types of mail, will be pulled up by roughly 30%.
Japan Post’s postal business has been struggling due to a decrease in mail volume and rising labor costs, incurring an operating loss in fiscal 2022, the first red ink in the business since the country’s postal privatization in 2007.
The ministry is set to solicit public comments on the ordinance revision and receive a report from the advisory panel as early as next March.
The postal charges will be raised after the ordinance is revised and Japan Post applies for charge hikes.
It is the first postage increases for standard-size sealed letters and postcards since the current charges were introduced when the consumption tax rate was raised to 10% in October 2019.
